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If you love outdoor swimming but prefer the kind of pool that isn’t filled with algae, Parliament Hill Lido may be a firm favourite. One of London’s older lidos, the 84-year-old pool has revealed plans for a swanky new revamp, where it will be kitted out with a new gym, toilets and changing rooms.
It first opened in 1938 and currently opens 365 days a year with a 60m heated swimming pool, café, sauna and small gym. The pool is managed by the City of London Corporation, which also looks after Hampstead Heath’s freshwater swimming ponds.
A report by the corporation’s assistant director for natural environment, Stefania Horne, says the lido is getting old and needs investment. In the report, the plan includes a new a 200 square-metre gym with 40 stations, new staff offices, a shop, new toilets and improved changing rooms. The cafe could also be extended but it is currently rented to a private operator.
Whether this will actually go ahead is still up in the air, but the City of London’s Hampstead Heath Committee will give feedback on the proposed plans on Monday September 26.
Next year, the corporation also plans to invest £700,000 in Highgate Men’s, Hampstead Mixed and Kenwood Ladies ponds to make them more accessible to disabled swimmers.